


The What-Ifs and the Wisdom of Solomon

by wyntirrose



Category: Captain Marvel (DC)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-28
Updated: 2015-01-28
Packaged: 2018-03-09 12:12:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3249212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wyntirrose/pseuds/wyntirrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Billy sits alone in the night contemplating his life, his secret, and his place among the heroes of the Justice League.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The What-Ifs and the Wisdom of Solomon

**Author's Note:**

> I have always liked the idea of Billy Batson and Captain Marvel. The very idea of a Superhero that's what a ten year old thinks a superhero should be appeals to me greatly. Now, keep in mind, my only exposure to the character is from Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, and Young Justice, but that was more than enough to make me fall in absolute love with the character.
> 
> So this is a little attempt at a character piece, given that I know next to nothing about the character.
> 
> Any comments and/or critique would be greatly appreciated.

Billy sat against the back of his bed, huddled up against the winter’s chill in an old wool blanket he’d picked up at a thrift shop. It was just cold enough outside that the small electric baseboard heaters couldn’t quite disperse it. Especially since he was trying to keep the electric bill as low as possible. He wasn’t making nearly enough money at the radio station – though he knew he should be grateful for what he was getting. At thirteen it was still technically illegal for him to be working, so he was glad for those few hours he was able to pick up after school. He wasn’t about to ask for more and risk HR learning that he was still ten months shy of his fourteenth birthday. No, he was thankful for every penny he brought in; even though the low salary meant that he often had to choose between food and heat.

This month had been particularly bad. With the school cuts he was having to pay for supplies himself. The latest move by the board was to charge the students for the use of the textbooks. The claim was that it was a rental fee to ensure that the children didn’t destroy the books, but it meant that Billy had fifty dollars less this month than he had been planning on, and that meant that the heat had to be kept nice and low if he wanted to have dinner every night.

It would be easier if his second job paid, but the fact was there was very little money to be found in being a superhero. He could solve all of his problems by moving up to the Watch Tower, but then that would mean he’d have to admit the truth to Clarke and Bruce and Ollie and Hal and J’onn and Wally and Diana. He didn’t want to have to deal with the looks that he knew they’d give him. Captain Marvel was an equal but Billy Batson was just a kid; a kid who needed to be protected and coddled and sent away from the League for his own good. And most likely Clark would tell WHIZ Radio and the officials of Fawcett City. It would be for his own good, of course; after all, a child needed a proper home and a proper childhood and he shouldn’t have to live in this rent-by-the-week dump wondering where his next meal was going to come from.

Billy wasn’t sure that any of them would understand what it was like. They were all born heroes … well, maybe Bruce and Ollie would understand. After all, they were mortal, just like him. They weren’t gods or aliens. Of course, Billy wasn’t really mortal any more, was he? Yes, Captain Marvel billed himself as Earth’s Mightiest Mortal™, but in reality he had been granted something otherworldly. Maybe Wally and Hal would be a better comparison. Maybe they would understand and accept Nearly-Fourteen-Year-Old Billy Batson as a member of the Justice League, that they would understand that deep and inherent NEED to help and to be more than whatever we were before.

Maybe. He slipped further under with wool blanket and ignored the slight grumble of his empty belly. He’d get breakfast at school. He could wait until then. What he needed now was sleep, but he couldn’t stop his mind from spinning with the “What Ifs”.

_“You’re not giving them enough credit.”_

The voice was similar to his own, though richer and older. And it held within it the Wisdom of Solomon.

“I just – It’s easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission,” Billy replied under his breath. “Isn’t that what they say? That and ‘What they don’t know won’t hurt them’.”

_“But it might hurt us,”_ the voice of Captain Marvel replied. _“You trust them with your life every day. Why not trust them with this?”_

“No. _YOU_ trust them every day with _YOUR_ life. Not mine,” Billy replied. “They only know Captain Marvel, Earth Mightiest Mortal. They don’t know Billy Batson, fourteen-year-old child. They know an adult. They fight alongside an adult.”

_“So what? We never tell them? We keep this from them until something awful happens and the Magic fails us? We never let them know that you’re there, hidden within me? I’m telling you, Billy, these people are good and kind and far more understanding than you realize. They will accept you and let you in.”_

Billy was silent for a long time, mulling over the words that he knew came from himself. The Wizard may have granted him the powers, but he had come to learn that Captain Marvel was as much a part of him as he was of the Captain.

“Who do I tell first? Who’ll freak out the least? I mean, Clark will try to do what’s best for me, and Diana … I’m not sure what she’d do. J’onn’s out of the question, he’ll try to send me to be with the Titans.”

_“Would that be so bad? You’d be with others closer to your own age.”_

“Yeah, when I’m me. Not when I’m you. Then I’ll be just another adult sent there to watch over them.”

The Captain actually sighed at that. _“You can’t have it both ways, Billy. We both know that. The League and the other heroes need to accept us for what we are. For **ALL** of what we are. Billy Batson **AND** Captain Marvel. If they can’t do that, then do you really want to be associated with them?” _

It was Billy’s turn to sigh. He knew that Captain Marvel was right. He needed to make a decision. Either he told the League of he stepped down. He couldn’t keep deceiving them like this. Even if it was only a deception of omission.

_“So it’s settled then?”_ Captain Marvel asked, sounding far less stern and younger.

“Yeah, it’s settled. I’m thinking that maybe I should tell Bruce first. He’s the most likely to understand. Besides. He’s probably already figured it out and it just waiting for me to fess up.”

_“Good. We’ll tell him after school and then maybe we can move up to the Watch Tower. I’m tired of you being cold all the time. And Wally’s got the best snacks stashed all over up there!”_

Billy couldn’t help but chuckle at the enthusiasm as he settled down to sleep. He’d face all of this tomorrow after school and Miss Keller’s math exam.


End file.
